Human Resources (HR) is the department of an organisation or group of professionals that look after the organisation’s employees in hiring, training, wellbeing, workplace functioning and operations, termination and more. The HR department is the backbone of any organisation and is incredibly important in ensuring the stability of the company through effective people management.
Without HR, a business is not likely to perform as successfully as it could with the right HR professionals and processes in place to guide the organisation in many areas. For employees, human resources is a crucial support structure, to voice thoughts, suggestions and concerns about anything within the workplace. HR is involved in each employee’s hiring or termination decision made by the business, as well as managing any training for employees.
Employers value future-focused and leadership-oriented individuals in HR roles, as this is important for training professionals and contributing to building the organisation’s strategic direction. HR professionals need to be able to understand business cycles and identify resources required in specific workplace situations. They must know how to support a growing company and understand how to innovate when building or changing workplace culture. HR professionals should be on top of workplace legislation at all times and have a keen eye for spotting any workplace issues that need to be addressed to create effective solutions.
Being a manager means having responsibility for a team of HR professionals within a larger organisation. Alternatively, you may be working alongside other departments and managers within a smaller organisation to ensure all employees are being looked after from a legal and well-being perspective. Being a very people-oriented role, a human resources manager might have several meetings in a day with different employees, departments or managers to discuss conflict issues, hiring professionals, inducting new employees, conducting interviews with job interview candidates or performance evaluation interviews with employees.
HR managers will also often work on documentation and processes surrounding workplace processes, including work health and safety, fire drills, reporting harassment and other workplace issues to ensure the best processes are in place for employees to understand and follow. You might find an HR manager spending time developing training seminars or software programs for employees to make sure all employees have the right training and knowledge for their respective roles.
Leads and manages organisational change, policy development and communication to increase workforce productivity within a business. This role helps develop workplace culture and facilitate continuous improvement.
Develops and implements workplace policies and procedures for sustainability and employee and financial growth. This role is responsible for an organisation’s change and people management.
Oversees the entire HR department and functions of a business. This role plans and directs the people management and administrative functions for the entire organisation and helps with strategic business decisions.
Works in a variety of functions, rather than specialising in one area of human resources. This role may oversee hiring, training, termination, administration and organisational development.
Coordinates, administers and manages payroll and employee wages. This role is perfect for professionals who are looking to step into the finance side of human resources.
Coordinates staff orientation and employment processes, as well as data reporting and administrative duties. This role is ideal for someone looking to step up from an assistant role.
Looks after a variety of HR administrative responsibilities, including payroll, recruitment and organisational development. This role is excellent for someone looking to step up from an assistant role into administration.
Assists with administrative responsibilities and supports HR in a variety of areas. This role is the ideal entry-level role for someone looking to kick start their career in human resources.
Leads and manages organisational change, policy development and communication to increase workforce productivity within a business. This role helps develop workplace culture and facilitate continuous improvement.
Develops and implements workplace policies and procedures for sustainability and employee and financial growth. This role is responsible for an organisation’s change and people management.
Oversees the entire HR department and functions of a business. This role plans and directs the people management and administrative functions for the entire organisation and helps with strategic business decisions.
Works in a variety of functions, rather than specialising in one area of human resources. This role may oversee hiring, training, termination, administration and organisational development.
Coordinates, administers and manages payroll and employee wages. This role is perfect for professionals who are looking to step into the finance side of human resources.
Coordinates staff orientation and employment processes, as well as data reporting and administrative duties. This role is ideal for someone looking to step up from an assistant role.
Looks after a variety of HR administrative responsibilities, including payroll, recruitment and organisational development. This role is excellent for someone looking to step up from an assistant role into administration.
Assists with administrative responsibilities and supports HR in a variety of areas. This role is the ideal entry-level role for someone looking to kick start their career in human resources.
Organisational development is the change management, culture creation, and workforce development to set a business up to meet its strategic goals. Managers within these roles create and enforce change management strategies that improve and enhance employees’ work and the overall business itself.
In this role, you can expect to focus on wider business goals, identifying opportunities for employee growth to enhance business operations. While Human Resources often work more closely on policies and the hiring and managing of employees, organisational development works with both the company and employees to boost employee engagement and productivity, and in turn, increase profits.
Organisational development managers can still work within, or closely with human resources to create a positive work environment by ensuring effective management of employees and creating a well-balanced and engaging culture within a company.
If you’re looking to utilise your interpersonal and leadership management skills to develop the people and culture of a business, an organisational development diploma can fast-track you into this rewarding role.
As more value is increasingly placed on employee wellness, we will see emerging HR roles such as:
80% of HR practitioners surveyed in the AHRI Pulse Report1 believe their organisation is recruiting over the next 6 months, however, only 20% are confident that they will be recruiting for specific skills.
Retention of talent remains a challenge – 90% of respondents in a survey2 have been in their role for 4 years or less.
HR technology and automation will allow HR professionals to have more strategic responsibilities within organisations in 2021 and beyond.3
1AHRI Pulse Report, 20202 Frazer Jones 20203 Employment Hero, 2020
Having the right qualification and skillsets are the keys to a successful career in human resources. To begin a career in HR, having the right qualification is the key to success. Ensuring you are up to date with the latest HR trends both within HR as a whole and your respective industry is crucial, and aligning yourself with industry bodies is highly beneficial.
Undertaking the Certificate IV in Human Resource Management (BSB40420) is the ideal qualification for teaching all of the essential skills and knowledge needed to land on your feet in an HR role. This qualification will allow you to begin any entry-level or mid-level HR role with confidence. For those looking to progress in their existing HR career, the Diploma of Human Resource Management (BSB50320) is the perfect qualification to develop HR management-level skills whilst building on current experience and knowledge.
If organisational development or change management are your preferred career paths, a Diploma of Business (Organisational Development) (BSB50120) will teach you the skills you need to excel in these roles. Learn how to develop better people management skills and how to work with a company and it’s employees to improve the organisation. Organisational development and change management have their own unique set of skills separate to HR managers, but work closely with them to achieve results.
Become a qualified Human Resources Director with strategic HR, leadership and risk management skills designed to equip you with the skills required to progress into senior HR management.
100% Online Learning
Approx 18-20 months part-time
Approx 18 months full-time
Human Resources Manager$94,000
Senior Human Resources Manager $125,000
Human Resources Director$151,000
Develop your organisational development skills and become a confident people and culture manager or organisation development consultant with essential change management, communication and leadership skills in this organisational development online course.
100% Online Learning
Approx 14-16 months part-time
Approx 12 months full-time
Organisational Development Specialist$97,000
Change Manager$155,000
People and Culture Manager$125,000
Begin your HR career with this qualification – ideal for those new to HR, or for HR or Payroll Officers to formalise their learning. Increase your HR skills, learning to promote team cohesion, organise recruitment and induction processes, and implement WHS policies.
100% Online Learning
Approx 12 months part-time
Approx 8 months full-time
Human Resources Assistant$54,000
Human Resources Administrator$65,000
Payroll Supervisor$79,000
Become a qualified Human Resources Manager, learning how to manage and support the people in your organisation. Increase your HR skillset and prepare to move into a higher-level managerial role.
100% Online Learning
Approx 14-16 months part-time
Approx 12 months full-time
Human Resources Coordinator$80,000
Human Resources Manager$94,000
Senior Human Resources Generalist$90,000
Become a qualified Human Resource Manager, learning how to get the most out of your people and implementing strategies to achieve your company goals. Increase your HR skill set and prepare to move into a higher-level managerial role.
100% Online Learning
Approx 14-16 months part-time
Approx 12 months full-time
Human Resources Coordinator$80,000
Human Resources Manager$94,000
Human Resources Generalist$90,000
Job growth and stability are strong in HR, with a 15.5% projected job growth in the next five years for human resources managers. Studying human resources management will allow you to be qualified with the latest industry-relevant skills and knowledge, allowing you to land a rewarding HR role and progress in your HR career. HR Managers and higher-level HR professionals have a significant amount of responsibility and can expect to be rewarded for their work. Annual salaries can range from anywhere between $90,000 to upwards of $200,000.
Ask most HR professionals and they will tell you that they love their role because they have a chance to make a difference within an organisation. This includes improving the working lives of every employee, and improve workplace relations. Working in HR also opens opportunities to travel around the world, particularly if you work for international organisations. By studying a qualification in human resources management, you can develop these essential skills in people performance and management, managing recruitment, hiring, termination and mediation processes, leading and managing organisational change, project management and much more.
Our Real Outcomes Guarantee is our commitment to you and your career goals, ensuring that your studies will give you real-world benefits.
Our team, assessments and feedback are all focused on helping you in your career, not just completing your course. As the only RTO offering this, our guarantee is part of our ongoing work to go beyond just a piece of paper.
I needed to have that diploma in order to move up … even though I’d semi been doing the job anyway.
Because I’m a single mum, I was doing it while my kids were growing up … I could go [at] my own pace, and do it in the timeframe I wanted.
I definitely wouldn’t be where I was if I hadn’t done that course.
We support you beyond achieving your qualifications – we want to help you be as prepared as possible for taking the next step in your career. Our Careers Hub gives you complimentary and exclusive access to resources and personalised advice from our in-house Career Coach.
My experience with Jenni the career counsellor was exceptional…The feedback was so helpful. She was encouraging too, and made me feel more sure about how to ‘sell myself’ to the target employers. I am very impressed with CAL’s careers hub – many resources that I will use. Thank you very much for your help.
– Samantha M.
Every member of our team is here to support you beyond achieving your qualifications. We want you to be as prepared as possible for taking the next step in your career. As a CAL student you’ll gain access to our Careers Hub through our online learning hub ‘Spark’.
